BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Upbeat profit reports from Yahoo Inc. and Sun Microsystems Wednesday boosted investor confidence in the tech sector, lifting the Nasdaq composite index more than 1 percent as The Dow Jones industrials logged fresh trading and closing highs.

    The Dow rose 87.97, or 0.70 percent, to 12,621.77 after rising 56.64 on Tuesday. The Dow surpassed a record close of 12,582.59 set Jan. 16; it was the Dow's 26th record close since the blue chip average began its surge higher at the start of October. The Dow also reached a record intraday high of 12,623.45, topping a trading high of 12,614.00 reached a week earlier.

    The tech-laden Nasdaq composite index jumped 34.87, or 1.43 percent, to 2,466.28. The gain marked the Nasdaq's biggest one-day increase since early December.

    The Standard & Poor's 500 index reached a six-year high, rising 12.14, or 0.85 percent, to 1,440.13.

    "I think investors were waiting with the techs for the earnings to come out," said Neil Massa, equity trader at John Hancock Funds. "Investors were in the show-me mode. They had to be shown good numbers because they didn't want to take anything for granted because they had been laggards for a while."

    Yahoo jumped 1.98 U.S. dollars, or 7.3 percent, to 28.94 dollars after the Internet-search company's 2006 fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street's estimates. The company unveiled an ad search technology and said it expects to draw more revenue from each page view during the year.

    Sun Microsystems, a maker of server and storage products, rose 49 cents, or 8.7 percent, to 6.15 dollars after the company reported its first quarterly profit in years as revenue increased. Earnings were above what Wall Street expected.

    There was little overall movement in the energy and health sectors in response to President Bush's State of the Union address, during which he called for expanded health insurance coverage and a 20 percent reduction the country's consumption of gasoline during the next 10 years. Some alternative-energy companies pulled back after rising sharply before the speech.

    Among energy companies, Exxon Mobil Inc. rose 41 cents to 74.90 dollars. The energy sector appeared to take in stride the president's call for austerity in gasoline consumption, though some companies that make a business of alternative energy products were lower. Xethanol Corp., an ethanol maker, fell 31 cents, or 10.10 percent, to 2.76 dollars, while larger rival Archer Daniels Midland Co. declined 54 cents to 32.09 dollars.

    Kim Caughey, equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, said investors are focusing on earnings reports for comments on current and future business conditions and for hints as to whether inflation will cool adequately to allow the Federal Reserve to lower short-term interest rates.

    "Investment managers are looking at two areas, one is inflation and one is growth," she said. "Far out in the future they kind of tie together because if we have too much inflation the Fed is going the take the punch bowl away."

    Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.57 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 closed up 1.40 percent, Germany's DAX index finished up 1.04 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 1.13 percent.

    (Agencies)